Falling Off the Wagon: Why It's Simply Not True [Ep. 18]

Welcome to Eat Well, Think Well, Live Well; the podcast for women who want to lose weight, but are tired of counting and calculating all the food. I'm your host, Lisa Salsbury. I'm a certified health and weight loss coach and life coach, and most importantly a recovered chronic dieter. I'll teach you to figure out why you are eating when you aren't hungry, instead of worrying so much about what you are eating. Hey everyone. Happy Thanksgiving week. I really went back and forth on what to publish this week, my inner critic brain, which I still haven't mastered, even though last week's episode with Andrea, it was so good. If you haven't listened to that one, you definitely don't want to miss it. It's the longest podcast I've ever done, but it was so worth it. I've gotten great feedback on it. But anyway, that inner critic, voice of mine was telling me that no one would listen this week because it was Thanksgiving. So to appease her as well as to stay committed to publishing every week. I'm giving you a contrasting episode to the long one last week and giving you a super short episode. On falling off the wagon. My clients know, I don't let them use this phrase, but if you do, I want to teach you a little something about it. I feel like you may think that Thanksgiving or even the entirety of the holiday season is you falling off the wagon. You might also use this phrase when you. Don't abide by what you said you were going to do with the nutrition plan that you have. So it could maybe have to do with a holiday in the future, but it might just be a random, difficult Wednesday. But I think what happens is then you throw your hands up in the air. After those festivities and say, well, I've blown it now. And we get into that might as well eat. Right. We might as well eat that because we already ate this. Sorry. If you can hear my dog barking in the background, I just don't have time to constantly tell her to be quiet while I'm recording sometimes. So. She's adorable but loud. Anyway, here's the thing about Thanksgiving. It's one day. I covered this a little in my handling the holidays episode, where I go over several things you can do in these next five to six weeks. But specifically for tomorrow. Or if you're listening to this on. On another day with regards to a different holiday, or just with regards to any day that you kind of went off the rails. Remember. This is one day. And you are planning to actually eat Thanksgiving meals. That's not actually falling off the wagon. That's planning to overeat because you have decided you want to. A while back I was on a weight loss support group on Facebook that I sometimes contribute to. And I saw this post, I'm going to read it to you. She said, do not jump off the wagon. Mine keeps running away now and I'm still trying to catch it. I even ordered fast food with my grocery pickup tonight. Not like it was a spontaneous buy cause I was hungry or giving into temptation because it was there. This was premeditated. Let's kill myself with poison for my body and drive through to have it loaded in my car. Uugh I'd put myself in timeout, but that just sounds pleasant. Obviously, she was in a lot of pain. She was not happy with her choices, but here was my answer to her. Don't worry, Julie, you are the driver. If you fall off. Your wagon stops. It's not making forward progress without you. And it's also not in reverse. It's just stopped. It's all part of the journey. The more often we quit driving the longer it will take, but as long as you literally don't walk away, give the reigns to someone else and completely lay down on the side of the road with an I quit sign, you're still making progress. Just jump back on and drive a little ways. And then when you notice you've jumped off again, just literally notice it. Be like, oh, look at me taking longer to get there again. No problem. I'll just get back on. The more often you give yourself grace rather than beat yourself up about it. The easier it will be to get back on. No one wants to drive the wagon with a black eye and a broken rib. Stop punching yourself in the face with your thoughts about how terrible you are. It's untrue. And unhelpful, just keep driving. Now I honestly, I don't even remember if she commented back. But I really believe this answer. I still use it all the time. You are the driver. Stop saying you fell off the wagon falling off. Sounds like someone else is in charge, but remember you. Are the one you're the only one in your wagon. And this is actually super good news because no one else is in charge of your wagon and it's not a race. Your wagon stops. If you decide to get off and choose something else today, but it's right there waiting for you when you are ready. And tomorrow is the perfect day. And that goes for any day, whether that's Thanksgiving or Christmas or Thursday. It's always the perfect day. And remember that it's not even true. That you fell off the wagon on Thanksgiving because you are actually planning to eat the pie and the rolls and whatever else you love. That is one day out of seven this week. This is nothing to worry about when you focus on the other 364 days, or maybe 360 days. Say if we leave out the holidays in this season, It's when you focus on those days that you will see results. Most of the time when my clients use this phrase, they are referring to one off plan meal or day. But they know how to employ the very next bite strategy. Which is not waiting for the next Monday or the next month to make the choices that help their bodies feel the best. They make that choice with their very next bite. This week that just looks like waiting until physical hunger on Friday and eating your regular go-to meals in amounts that feel satisfying to you. You will feel so much better. To eat to hunger levels after a day of overeating. Notice, I did not say to skip any meals on Friday or to do anything different. You just get back to the regular type meals that you eat. Regular things that fuel you best and you are up and driving that wagon again. In fact, again, I don't really even consider Thanksgiving falling off the wagon at all. Like I said, because it's totally planned. But if you do, if you feel like it is. Then you can just think of it as just getting right back on the wagon the next day. And nothing has gone wrong. Nothing is wrong with enjoying a day of food celebration with your friends and family. Barring an allergy situation. Your health is not going to permanently suffer from that day. But beating yourself up and listening to that inner critic and allowing her to metaphorically punch you in the face. That is where the real problem lies. So seriously, have a happy Thanksgiving. I have a Merry Christmas. If that's, when you're listening to this. If these concepts are resonating with you and you are ready to get some help now. I would love to talk with you on a free strategy session. Don't wait until January to get started. Just like you can get right back up when you decide. To overeat. There's really no need to wait to talk to me until January until you think it's the perfect time. I promise there's never a better time to start than today. I've had people start three weeks before a vacation. Not because they wanted to lose weight before the vacation. It just happened to be the time that they found me. It was not a problem. And it's not a problem for you. To start today tomorrow, the first week in December. It's always a great time to start focusing on your health and reaching your goals. hey, thanks for listening today. If you're ready to get some personalized coaching from me, I'd encourage you to schedule a free strategy session. Visit www.wellwithlisa.as.me or it's easier just to find that link in the show notes. We'll talk about where you currently are with your weight loss goals. And I'll give you some actionable tools. You can start implementing right away. Before you go, make sure you subscribe to the podcast so you can receive new episodes, right when they're released. And if you're learning something new and enjoying the podcast, I'd love for you to leave me a five star rating and a review. Thanks again for joining me, Lisa Salisbury in this episode of Eat Well, Think Well, Live Well.